Question

what is a forest village? how were the people treated living in this area.

Answer 1

1) The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories, namely, reserved, protected and village forests or forest villages.

2) The best forests were called ‘reserved forests’. Villages could not take anything from these forests even for their own use

3) For house building or fuel, they could take wood from protected or village forests

4) Villagers wanted forests with a mixture of species to satisfy different needs – fuel, fodder, leaves. In forest areas people use forest products – roots, leaves, fruits and tubers – for many things

5) The Forest Act meant severe hardships for villagers across the country. After the Act, all their everyday practices – cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots, hunting and fishing – became illegal

6) People were forced to steal wood from the forests, and if they were caught they were at the mercy of forest guards who would take bribes from them.

7) Women who collected fuelwood were especially worried. It was also common for police constables and forest guards to harass people by demanding free food from them